I have written previously about action economy and monster design. Essentially, a group of PCs can easily overwhelm a single, more powerful monster simply because they get so many more actions per round than the monster. Although the fundamental issue was more-or-less understood much earlier, the term “economy of actions” may have been coined by Wizards of the Coast designer Rodney Thompson in an influential, but long lost Gleemax post from 2007 or 2008. 4e tried a few different mechanisms with varying levels of success to address this problem, most notably creating minion, normal, elite, and solo categories for monsters.
The 5e solution is the legendary action mechanic, which gives powerful monsters bonus actions each round that can be taken on the players’ turns. This solution actually harkens all the way back to the 2003 Miniatures Handbook, which introduced the mechanic of swift and immediate actions to 3.5e. These actions also allow monsters to take extra actions each round—even outside their own turn.
Pathfinder Battles horned demon miniature.
Although later 3.5e monsters occasionally incorporated swift and immediate actions, the implementation was inconsistent. Other designers tried other mechanics to address the action economy problem, and the “horned demon” from Paizo’s Dark Elf Sanctum (2005) is a good example. Sanctum was part of Paizo’s short-lived Compleat Encounter line: each installment contained a short, stand-alone encounter along with cardboard map tiles and unpainted miniatures. Sanctum was written by Mike Mearls with art by Wayne Reynolds. The miniatures were sculpted by Neil McKenzie.
The horned demon is a tough, physical brute with one very interesting trick: it wears a magical belt containing the souls of trapped evil spellcasters. (Is that metal or what?) While the demon engages in melee the belt casts spells, essentially given the monster bonus actions each round. This is a classic Mearls design, featuring an elegant, flavorful solution to a knotty mechanical problem.
But the horned demon has a few classic Mearls quirks, as well—such as a profound disinterest in setting logic or mechanical consistency. The demon, for example, has none of the special features of the demon subtype. And in a game system that quantifies everything, there’s no indication what happens to the belt once the demon is killed, how much such a belt is worth, or how one is created.
Paizo brought the horned demon into the Pathfinder game as the Kalavakus demon in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2 (2010). But this is a rather different monster, now a conventional demon without its signature belt and sporting a new enslave ability: a much more mechanically complete—but also much less interesting—monster. (Fortunately, the WizKids miniature of the demon included the three-faced belt.)
For this conversion, I’ve gone back to the original design and embraced the problematic belt. The following text is Open Game Content.
Abyssal Gorer
This hulking, muscled beast has four long, fierce horns sweeping back from its skull and similar bone structures along its forearms. It wears a leather belt and loincloth set with three metal disks, each with a humanoid face carved upon it.
Fell Advisors. Each abyssal gorer wears a belt of the coven, a demonskin belt imbued with the souls of three evil spellcasters. These villains speak to the gorer and provide counsel in battle.
A Bloodthirsty Abandon. In combat an abyssal gorer lunges toward the nearest target. The coven trapped within the belt lend their arcane power to its efforts, blasting its foes with spells or enhancing its efforts with support spells.
0e
Abyssal Gorer CL 11 (1,700 XP)
The belt of the coven worn by an abyssal gorer acts as an intelligent sword and can cast spells as a 6th level magic-user (4/2/2). A common spell list is: level 1: hold portal, magic missile x2, shield; level 2: strength, web; level 3: lightning bolt x2.
HD 9; AC 4 [15]; Atk 2 claws (1d6), gore (2d6); Move 12; Save 6; AL C; Special: Spells.
3.5e
Abyssal Gorer CR 11
Always CE Medium outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +18, Spot +18
Languages Abyssal, Common
AC 25, touch 11, flat-footed 24 (+1 Dex, +14 natural)
hp 126 (12d8+72 HD); DR 10/good
Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +11
SR 22
Spd 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +16 (1d8+4), bite +14 (1d6+2), gore +14 (1d6+2)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks aligned strike (chaos, evil), horns, powerful charge 2d6+6
Typical Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 6th)
3rd (3/day)—lightning bolt (DC 15)
2nd (6/day)—bull’s strength, spider climb
1st (7/day)—jump, mage armor, magic missile, shield
0 (6/day)—acid splash (+13 ranged touch), arcane mark, daze (DC 12), detect magic, ghost sound, resistance, touch of fatigue (+16 melee touch)
Str 19, Dex 13, Con 22, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 15
Base Atk +12; Grp +16
Feats Combat Expertise, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Multiattack, Power Attack
Skills Climb +19, Intimidate +17, Jump +19, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (the planes) +17, Listen +18, Search +17, Spellcraft +17, Spot +18, Tumble +16
SQ belt of the coven
Environment any
Organization solitary or patrol (2–9)
Treasure standard
Advancement 13–18 HD (Large); 19–24 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment +6
Belt of the Coven (Su) The three souls bound within the belt are spellcasters charged with directing the gorer and providing it magical support. In addition to the abyssal gorer’s normal actions, each of these faces is an intelligent creature. An abyssal gorer somehow separated from its belt has Intelligence 6, Wisdom 8, and Charisma 5.
Each round, one of the three faces can cast a single spell as a swift action. The spell must be cast with a standard, move, or free action for the belt to use it in this manner. The belt has the casting ability of a sorcerer with half the abyssal gorer’s HD as its caster level (typically resulting in caster level 6th). The belt uses the gorer’s attributes, attack bonus, and all other relevant data when using its spells, such as touch attack bonus. The gorer acts as the spell’s caster for purposes of determining line of effect, targets, and so forth. Using spells in this manner does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Horns (Ex) The long, sharp horns that run along the gorer’s arm allow it to disarm its opponents with greater ease. It catches a weapon in the gap between its arm and the horn and yanks the weapon away from its opponent. It gains a +2 bonus on all attack rolls made to disarm an opponent.
Powerful Charge (Ex) When an abyssal gorer charges, its gore attack deals 2d6+6 points of damage.
Typically, a coven uses shield and mage armor to leave the gorer invulnerable to most attacks. It then either follows up with bull's strength if the gorer faces a tough foe, or picks off the gorer's opponents with magic missile and lightning bolt.
5e
| Medium fiend, chaotic evil | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armor Class 13 (natural armor) | |||||
| Hit Points 142 (15d8 + 75 HD) | |||||
| Speed 30 ft. | |||||
| Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha |
| 19 (+4) | 13 (+1) | 20 (+5) | 15 (+2) | 15 (+2) | 16 (+3) |
| Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks | |||||
| Damage Immunities poison | |||||
| Condition Immunities poisoned | |||||
| Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12 | |||||
| Languages Abyssal, Common | |||||
| Challenge 10 (5,900 XP) | |||||
| Spellcasting. The abyssal gorer is a 6th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). It requires no material components to cast its spells. The abyssal gorer has the following sorcerer spells prepared: Cantrips (at will): acid splash, chill touch, mage hand, minor illusion, prestidigitation, shocking grasp, true strike 1st level (4 slots): jump, mage armor, magic missile, shield 2nd level (3 slots): enhance ability, spider climb 3rd level (3 slots): lightning bolt | |||||
| Magic Resistance. The abyssal gorer has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. | |||||
| Actions | |||||
| Multiattack. The abyssal gorer makes three attacks: one with its gore and two with its claws. | |||||
| Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage. | |||||
| Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage. | |||||
| Charge. If the abyssal gorer moves at least 10 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 10 feet away and knocked prone. | |||||
| Legendary Actions | |||||
| The abyssal gorer can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The abyssal gorer regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. | |||||
| Claw attack. The abyssal gorer makes one claw attack. | |||||
| Gore attack (Costs 2 Actions). The abyssal gorer makes one gore attack. | |||||
| Cast a Spell (Costs 3 Actions). The abyssal gorer casts a spell from its list of prepared spells, using a spell slot as normal. | |||||
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
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